I am an adault 38yrs old. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 3yrs ago. since then my sugar levels has never stabilized, It ranges between 3.6mmls to 19.1mmls. I'm using metformin and diet. what can I do to stabilize the level?
type 2 diabetes
- Thread starter charles maina
- Start Date
daisy1
Legend
- Messages
- 26,457
- Type of diabetes
- Type 2
- Treatment type
- Tablets (oral)
- Dislikes
- Cruelty towards animals.
Hi Charles and welcome to the forum 
This information which we give to new members should help you to stabilise your levels. Ask more questions if you need to and someone will be able to help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 30,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
Reduce your carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please sign our e-petition for free testing for all type 2's; here's the link:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/petition/
Do get your friends and colleagues to sign as well.
This information which we give to new members should help you to stabilise your levels. Ask more questions if you need to and someone will be able to help.
BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEW MEMBERS
Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.
A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you’ll find well over 30,000 people who are demonstrating this.
On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.
The role of carbohydrate
Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.
If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.
The bad news
Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.
The good news
People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.
Controlling your carbs
The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.
There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
- Reduce your carbohydrate intake
- Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates
A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.
The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.
Choosing better carbohydrates
Another option is to replace ‘white carbohydrates’ (such as white bread, white rice, white flour etc) with whole grain varieties. The idea behind having whole grain varieties is that the carbohydrates get broken down slower than the white varieties –and these are said to have a lower glycaemic index.
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/diabetes ... rains.html
The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.
Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes
Eating what works for you
Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.
To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.
The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:
Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
- Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
- 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
Access to blood glucose test strips
The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
- structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
- self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education
Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.
You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic
Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please sign our e-petition for free testing for all type 2's; here's the link:
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/petition/
Do get your friends and colleagues to sign as well.
Hi. Can you let us know what sort of diet you are following and whether you are overweight. As you were only 35 when diagnosed there is always the possibility that you are in fact a late onset T1 not a T2 which could explain the lack of BS control. If you are not overweight and following a low-carb diet I would suggest discussion with your GP about the possibility of LADA (late onset T1) which can be tested for.
Thanks alot. as I said, I was diagnosed diabetes when I was only 35yrs old and sugar level was too high 35.1mmls. Before that I used to feed on junk food like ships, red meat, alcohol etc. Since then am very keen on diet. I try to avoid carbohydrate as much as I can, I use volumes of greens and potion of grains.
Hi Charles
The only thing from what you've said is grains.
Do you test your blood 2 hours after eating.
as the others have said it may not be as simple as T2.LADA is often missed and can explain why control is not obtained when carbs are greatly reduced
mary x
The only thing from what you've said is grains.
Do you test your blood 2 hours after eating.
as the others have said it may not be as simple as T2.LADA is often missed and can explain why control is not obtained when carbs are greatly reduced
mary x
Thanx Mary x, yes I do tests weekly, sometimes fasting which in most cases test 7.8mmls and random test between 9.1mmls to 18.0mmls.
Grazer
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 3,115
Charles, the key to testing is to do it two hours after eating and adjust your diet accordingly. Here is what I do:-
In general terms you will need to reduce the total number of carbohydrates you eat per day. All carbohydrates turn to sugar when we eat them, and no type 2 diabetic on diet only, or on diet and metformin only, can control their blood sugars (BGs) without controlling their carb intake. Even those on strong medication normally choose to control their carb intake to keep the level of medication they take down. The total number of carbs per day you can eat depends on how advanced your diabetes is. It’s perhaps worth starting at about 50% of normal levels for a non-diabetic then adjusting up or down according to how you get on. So that means eating 150 grams of carbs per day for a man, 125 for a woman. You can read the total carb content of food under “nutritional info” on the packet or wrapping, or look it up on the internet for loose food. Just google “carb content..”
You also need to stop or reduce the bad carbs; that is the starchy ones that make your BG go up quickly.
So obviously no sugar or glucose! But also no white bread, white rice, pasta, flour products like pastry, cake and batter. You can eat a little basmati rice, wholewheat pasta or the tri-color pasta fusilli ones in small quantities. Boiled new potatos (again not too many) are OK but not old pots mashed, boiled or in their jackets. (Roast is not so bad, the fat slows their absorption and conversion to glucose in the blood) Amongst other veg, parsnips are about the worst for BG, and carrots not great but ok in smaller amounts.
Multi grain bread (not wholemeal) is not SO bad, but lots of us eat Burgen soya and linseed bread from tescos and sainsburys, although all bread should be in limited amounts.
All fruit has carbohydrates, and needs to be included in the amounts of carbs you eat in a day. For most people, bananas are about the worst for pushing our BG up and berries (like strawberries, raspberries etc) are the least bad.
No sweeties!
Exercise is important. I tend to exercise about an hour after eating when I know my BG will be peaking. This helps to bring it down quicker and further. I do ten minutes hard work on an exercise machine, but you could run up and down stairs for ten minutes or go for a brisk walk.
Returning to types of food and quantities of carbs - you can only find out how many you can eat by testing. Most type 2’s are not given access to testing equipment, so you should get your own – although try arguing with your Doc that you want to manage to NICE guideline blood sugar levels, and can’t do that without testing! If you have to buy a meter, they are cheap and most manufacturers will give them away for free. They make their money on the strips you have to use! So go for the meter with the cheapest testing strips. The SD Codefree available on the internet is about the cheapest at the moment. Some people test before and after eating, on waking (fasting test) and before bed. But if you have limited strips because of cost, the key to me is testing 2 hours after eating. If your BG is above, say, 7.8 at that stage, you need to cut down on the carb content the next time you have that meal. Test after various different meals and you soon get to see a pattern of what you can and can’t eat, and in what quantities. Keep careful records of what you ate and when, together with the result, so you can refer back at a later date. You can then reduce your testing. I said “below, say, 7.8” because NICE guidelines are below 8.5 but most of us think that’s a little high. 7.8 is the max. level at 2 hours after eating that a non-diabetic normally gets to so is perhaps a better target. Some then set progressively lower targets.
Good luck!
In general terms you will need to reduce the total number of carbohydrates you eat per day. All carbohydrates turn to sugar when we eat them, and no type 2 diabetic on diet only, or on diet and metformin only, can control their blood sugars (BGs) without controlling their carb intake. Even those on strong medication normally choose to control their carb intake to keep the level of medication they take down. The total number of carbs per day you can eat depends on how advanced your diabetes is. It’s perhaps worth starting at about 50% of normal levels for a non-diabetic then adjusting up or down according to how you get on. So that means eating 150 grams of carbs per day for a man, 125 for a woman. You can read the total carb content of food under “nutritional info” on the packet or wrapping, or look it up on the internet for loose food. Just google “carb content..”
You also need to stop or reduce the bad carbs; that is the starchy ones that make your BG go up quickly.
So obviously no sugar or glucose! But also no white bread, white rice, pasta, flour products like pastry, cake and batter. You can eat a little basmati rice, wholewheat pasta or the tri-color pasta fusilli ones in small quantities. Boiled new potatos (again not too many) are OK but not old pots mashed, boiled or in their jackets. (Roast is not so bad, the fat slows their absorption and conversion to glucose in the blood) Amongst other veg, parsnips are about the worst for BG, and carrots not great but ok in smaller amounts.
Multi grain bread (not wholemeal) is not SO bad, but lots of us eat Burgen soya and linseed bread from tescos and sainsburys, although all bread should be in limited amounts.
All fruit has carbohydrates, and needs to be included in the amounts of carbs you eat in a day. For most people, bananas are about the worst for pushing our BG up and berries (like strawberries, raspberries etc) are the least bad.
No sweeties!
Exercise is important. I tend to exercise about an hour after eating when I know my BG will be peaking. This helps to bring it down quicker and further. I do ten minutes hard work on an exercise machine, but you could run up and down stairs for ten minutes or go for a brisk walk.
Returning to types of food and quantities of carbs - you can only find out how many you can eat by testing. Most type 2’s are not given access to testing equipment, so you should get your own – although try arguing with your Doc that you want to manage to NICE guideline blood sugar levels, and can’t do that without testing! If you have to buy a meter, they are cheap and most manufacturers will give them away for free. They make their money on the strips you have to use! So go for the meter with the cheapest testing strips. The SD Codefree available on the internet is about the cheapest at the moment. Some people test before and after eating, on waking (fasting test) and before bed. But if you have limited strips because of cost, the key to me is testing 2 hours after eating. If your BG is above, say, 7.8 at that stage, you need to cut down on the carb content the next time you have that meal. Test after various different meals and you soon get to see a pattern of what you can and can’t eat, and in what quantities. Keep careful records of what you ate and when, together with the result, so you can refer back at a later date. You can then reduce your testing. I said “below, say, 7.8” because NICE guidelines are below 8.5 but most of us think that’s a little high. 7.8 is the max. level at 2 hours after eating that a non-diabetic normally gets to so is perhaps a better target. Some then set progressively lower targets.
Good luck!
Thank you Grazer. I'm new here and my GP and nurse belong to the clan of "you don't need a monitor since we do a blood test", but after reading this I just ordered a SD Codefree on Amazon.
Never had it, but I was wondering if Type II patients can get Hypos and Hypers anyone?
Never had it, but I was wondering if Type II patients can get Hypos and Hypers anyone?
Hi Bart
general consenus is diet controlled t2's are at no more danger of proper hypo's than non-diabetics (although some people do say they've had them). Anyone can feel rubbish when not eaten enough or for long periods etc, esp early on in controlling your BG's, when your body has been used to running at much higher BG levels.
Re hypers - not so sure of my ground here. Hypers dont get talked about so often, I know running high BG gives the side effects of blurred vision, aches, urinating a lot, thirst etc, the symptoms many people get diagnosed with.
Mary x
general consenus is diet controlled t2's are at no more danger of proper hypo's than non-diabetics (although some people do say they've had them). Anyone can feel rubbish when not eaten enough or for long periods etc, esp early on in controlling your BG's, when your body has been used to running at much higher BG levels.
Re hypers - not so sure of my ground here. Hypers dont get talked about so often, I know running high BG gives the side effects of blurred vision, aches, urinating a lot, thirst etc, the symptoms many people get diagnosed with.
Mary x
Bart_40 said:
T2 diabetics on Metformin and/or diet are at no greater risk than non diabetics. Don't worry.
Well done getting the meter, most of us have had to invest in our own, but without one how do we learn what we can safely eat. Keep up the great work, you will be fine.
Hi Bart. I was hyper when diagnosed and had the complete set of symptoms. You are only going to go hyper if you take no steps to control your diabetes and are possibly a LADA. As others have said, it's only really Gliclazide that can cause a hypo and not Metformin or diet
Hi all! Am type 2 and wondering how during fasting the sugar level is always high 7.1 & 9.4 and when testing radom sugar level low between 5.0 & 5.7 Please advice.
charles Nderitu said:
Fasting BG's are the most difficult to control. While we sleep we are still using energy, but at a much lower (resting) rate. As the body begins to wake up, the liver will dump glucose into the blood to give us the energy we need until we break-the-fast and eat. This is called Dawn Phenomenon (DP).
Some people have a small snack before bed, some people don't eat after a certain time as they have found this helps. I don't bother with any of that simply because if you were to take your BG half an hour - an hour after getting up and not eating, you would find it had gone down on it's own. It's just one of those things our body does, that in a non diabetic is something they never think about, and to be honest it's one time as a diabetic I think as a non diabetic. I did find as my general BG's lowered and became stable my FBG did too, so perhaps that will help you?
Grazer
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 3,115
Fasting sugar levels are always the hardest to get down. The dawn phenomenon affects them. This is where the body prepares us for the day by promoting a release of adrenalin and glucose. Non diabetics simply take the glucose straight to the muscles and liver, but we can't do it so efficiently and get high readings. But don't worry; if your readings two hours after eating are ok, hopefully below 7.8, then that's the main thing. The fasting levels will come down eventually. You can help them a little in my experience by not eating anything after two hours before bed. If you go to bed with high levels, you wake up with high levels if youre controlling by diet only or metformin. Your random figures sound great by the way, so well done.
By fasting test I presume you mean the early morning test before eating or drinking? Some people have what is referred to as a 'liver dump'. This is when the liver dumps glucose into the bloodstream so that you have the energy to get up. Do you test before a meal and then 2 hours after eating as this is the best way to find out how well you are controlling your levels.
Ann
Ann
Yes Ann, I do fasting test after waking up followed by break fast and at the same time swallow tablets. after two to three hours I do radom test.
